The invention relates to peristaltic pumps and, more particularly, to a peristaltic pump which may be operated from a remote location. It is desirable in certain applications, for example, in space experiments, for a peristaltic pump to be in a hermetically sealed environment which makes it necessary that the operation of the pump be remotely controlled.
Heretofore, peristaltic pumps have been provided which utilize a plurality of rollers which move in a circular orbit and engage a piece of flexible tubing to force fluid through the tubing in a peristaltic type pumping action such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,740,173, 3,737,256 and 2,898,864. The problem occurs, however, that the conventional type peristaltic pump is limited in the number of tube lines which it can accommodate and, also, in the manner in which it may be operated, particularly in a remote manner. Another problem with the conventional peristaltic pump is that in an off condition, at least one of the pump rollers is left in a configuration where it is pinching the flexible tubing. If the pump is left in this condition for a long time, the tubing can be set with a pinch or other irregularity in its diameter. In applications where a high degree of accuracy is required, this pinch which is set in the tubing can affect the accuracy of the amount or volume of fluid, or rate at which the fluid is pumped.
In one particular experiment carried out on the orbiting shuttle vehicle in space, referred to as the recirculating isoelectric focusing operation, it is a requirement that the flows be kept parallel and equal in the separate flow channels.
Accordingly, an important object of the present invention is to provide a compact multichannel peristaltic type pump which can be operated from a remote location.
Still another important object of the present invention is to provide a remotely controlled peristaltic pump which in an unloaded mode leaves the flexible fluid tubes in an undeformed condition so that the fluid lines always remain in a similar configuration with one another without any preset pinches or other deformities.
Still another important object of the present invention is to provide a remotely controlled peristaltic pump which is compact yet incorporates a large number of individual fluid tube channels in a small amount of space.
Still another important object of the present invention is to provide a peristaltic pump having an actuating mechanism which is simple and reliable in its operation for remotely turning the pump off and on in an unloaded and loaded position.